Hands Off My Free Speech (Round II)

I’m not talking about those resonating pillars of freedom enshrined in the Bill of Rights, the First and Second Amendments. I’m not talking about the Bill of Rights or the Constitution at all. This American institution is far more sacred than any of that. This American institution gave us Moons Over My Hammy and other desirable breakfast fare. This American institution is called:

And so I was greatly troubled and saddened to see that the parking lot of a Pheonix Denny’s was to be used for the shameful act of trampling once again our First Amendment right to free speech in the name of an entirely different freedom: the right to free hate speech.

Self-declared patriot Jon Ritzheimer hoped to defend this right by staging yet another silly (some would say vile) Draw Mohamed Cartoon contest in the parking lot of a Pheonix Denny’s before ridin’ on over to the Islamic Community Center of Phoenix. There he and his followers plan on showing the world their ignorance in the “Freedom of Speech Rally Round II” by dressing in F**k Islam tee-shirts and declaring their hatred for a particular religion just as those who practice it show up for prayer.

And this All American Slam of an event gets even better. It doubles as a Second Amendment rally as well. From the atheist organizer’s own Facebook page:

This is in response to the recent attack in Texas where 2 armed terrorist, with ties to ISIS, attempted Jihad. Everyone is encouraged to bring American Flags and any message that you would like to send to the known acquaintances of the 2 gunmen. This Islamic Community Center is a known place that the 2 terrorist frequented. People are also encouraged to utilize there second amendment right at this event just incase our first amendment comes under the much anticipated attack.

This grammatically amusing page also notes, “There will be no after party!”

Certainly not! First of all Wild Bill’s (a presumptive biker road-house?) doesn’t want to have anything to do with all this hate speech. Good for Wild Bill. Second, Denny’s shuttered its doors in the face of this momentous occasion–no Lumberjack Slam or Bacon Slamburger for these clowns. And finally, it looks like those uncooperative Muslims over at the Center don’t plan to participate. In the words of the center’s president Usama Shami:

Everybody has a right to be a bigot. Everybody has a right to be a racist. Everybody has a right to be an idiot. We’re going to tell our members what we’ve told them before: not to engage them. They’re not looking for an intellectual conversation. They’re looking to stir up controversy and we’re not going to be a part of it.

Oh yeah? Them’s fightin’ words.

Just as I did at the beginning of this month when Pam Geller staged her own so-called Free Speech cartoon drawing contest, I would ask Jon Ritzheimer and all bigoted, hateful, embarrassing Americans to stop trampling my right to free expression in the name of their ignorance and hatred. I guess I kind of expect it from the Second Amendment crowd over at Fox News. But it’s a sorry day for thoughtful expression when it gets mixed up in the juvenile (as it did in Paris) and the impotently angry, as it will later on today.

3 thoughts on “Hands Off My Free Speech (Round II)”

If you read closely you’ll see I’m not suggesting they don’t have the right to express themselves. The method is just poor and unhelpful. Ritzheimer himself is quoted as saying: “I think the whole thing, the cartoon contest especially, I think it’s stupid and ridiculous.” (CNN http://goo.gl/Gn36L1)

Ok, so you’ve got all these blind sheep saying “We need to protect our right to draw Mohamed!!!” How many even want to draw Mohamed in the first place? In the words of the protest organizer: it’s stupid.